Slightly Bugged in Israel

In order to be able to be online a bit more I wanted to acquire a wireless router. Erga and I went to (believe it or not) a computer store called bug.co.il and bought an Edimax. Came "home" - the parents of a friend of Erga's are traveling in South America.  Connected the router.  Couldn't connect through wifi. Tried changing many settings - it takes 30 seconds for every setting. No wifi. Worked on other stuff. Tried changing many settings. No wifi. So I just went back to the store in the hope that they could give me another one.  The 2 employees couldn't even check if it worked or not, or if another machine would function. The girl told me to go home and call the hotline they have for cases like this and then I would be able to get it replaced or refunded if they agree. The guy who was busy selling a laptop was able to come up with a slightly better version: they will call themselves tomorrow morning and then they will call us with the outcome.  Lesson learned: Next time I buy anything I want to see it working in the store, even if it's just part of the functionality. In recent years I didn't make an effort, but I used to boycott Israeli products. No Tivall fake meat, no products with bar codes that start with 729. (These days I actually don't buy Tivall because they put egg in their food.) I did this because I didn't want to support the economy of a country that is actively oppressing and practicing apartheid.  Now I can see that both Jews and Arabs are hit by a boycott, but I once I leave this country I will be more aware.  For now, I console with learning a lot here.  Not all is black and white.  Most people in the army seem to merely be hanging around, kept silly for 2 to 3 years.  Dressing up in a uniform to enjoy free bus rides - most "soldiers" of the Israeli army are not killing Palestinians at all. Some are put in confinement for breaking silly laws. The first weeks it's a bit discomforting to see these kids walking around with automatic machine guns, but as anything, you get used to it.  I will never forget the sight of this friendly drunk guy with a gun on his back in a supermarket in Jerusalem. Buses in Jerusalem are terrible. Bus stops only show which lines are going there, no time schedule, no route information. And then the routes seem to be changing as well, without any form of notice, from one day to the next. Fortunately it's very well possible to hitchhike inside the city.  5 stars to hitchhiking in Israel. Even now that it's a bit colder, it just feels like summer in Amsterdam - except for the almost non-existent rain. Even at night you can be sure to arrive anywhere you want.  Just don't follow Israelis in their strategies. Somehow hitchhikers here seem to have a problem with using signs or showing a thumb. Signs in English are perfectly fine and so is creativity with your spots.  People are keen to pick up European looking foreigners and that brings me to the best part: I've met a lot of friendly people here and I'm happy here.